Maple Pumpkin Pie

So Thanksgiving is coming up as I’m sure many of you know. As with any get together I have to prepare as many things as I possibly can because that’s just how I get. I am not exactly aware of why I choose to do that to myself but I just like to make a plethora of things for people to taste. I suppose I just like being able to view the response on everyones face even if the expressions are of discomfort.

At a recent Halloween party, I received a request from quite a few people to make pumpkin pie. I figured it was going to be a cinch and began my planning until I actually made the realization that I had never made pumpkin pie before.

I’m almost certain that it took over 2 hours to actually get it in the oven because I was being so precocious with putting it together. Here’s where I made a slight mistake which was the fact that nut based crusts brown incredibly quickly and I have the oven temp started at a much higher temperature than normal for the first few minutes. I of course smelled that incredibly alarming scent of something that is getting quite “browned”.

Like a panicky girl scout I opened the oven to get a closer look and a plume of smoke blew out of the oven. Bad news right? Luckily the crust was fine, in fact it was perfectly browned so I figured I’ll just put on a pie shield. Because I’m the luckiest person on the planet the pie shield was missing from the house so I had to create a makeshift pie shield out of foil which completely saved me or more specifically my pie crust. In the end the pumpkin pie was wonderful and was promptly requested yet again but this time for Thanksgiving. The interesting thing is that even though everyone that has tasted it so far has liked it they didn’t have the slightest idea that it’s technically Paleo and moderately nourishing. Granted I still used a type of sugar in it but who cares really, it’s a treat

At least I now have a pumpkin pie recipe I can rely on for thanksgiving, christmas or any time of the year really. that I can feel moderately okay about eating that I can stick to for the holidays. Pumpkin pie to me was considered a sacred art form until I found out many of my family members just used the recipe on the back of the pumpkin puree cans. Moral of the story: if nobody knows that you almost burned the pie crust it’s still completely delicious and pumpkin pie is a valuable tool during the fall.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Grease a 9-inch pie mold with butter.

Pulse the pecan halves in a food processor until they are very finely chopped and almost represents pecan butter. It will start sticking to the walls of the food processor. In a medium bowl combine almond flour, salt, and maple sugar. In a small bowl whisk egg and add to the almond flour mixture along with butter and pecan halves and mix until thoroughly combined.

Press dough into pie mold and poke holes on the bottom with a fork. In a large bowl add pumpkin. In a seperate smaller bowl whisk together eggs, pour, and mix into pumpkin. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, sea salt, and maple sugar and mix until well incorporated. While mixxing slowly pour in coconut milk until completely distributed.

Pour filling into pressed dough pie mold and lightly cover the edges with a pie shield or foil. Place in the oven for 15 minutes then immediately reduce temperature to 350 degrees and let bake for 35-40 minutes or until it has no jiggle left in the center.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before serving.

Notes

Note on foil if you don't have a pie shield: So it was rather tricky when I was creating my makeshift pie shield with foil but to save myself the confusing explanation I found a post that has an excellent tutorial on how to make one here.Note on maple sugar: So I realize this might be an unusual sounding sugar and that it would be hard to come by but it's actually pretty widely available at most grocery stores. If you cannot find it I put a link to it in the ingredients list above.

I love maple sugar! It gives such a comforting taste to everything! Nice save on the pie crust, I’m still trying to figure out whether it works better to pre-bake the pie crust then add the filling and bake again, or just bake it with the filling. Any thoughts?

Bake it inside the crust when it comes to pumpkin pie. I’ve got a feeling the crust would get way too overdone if you pre-baked it seeing as the filling takes quite a while to cook. If you try this recipe let me know how it goes.

This is the best looking paleo pumpkin pie recipe I’ve seen. I would prefer to use raw honey in place of maple sugar/maple syrup. How do you think that would turn out and would you suggest altering the amount? Thank you!

I’m sure you could use honey without any problems. I would do about 1/3 cup- 1/2 cup of honey depending on your sweetness tolerance. The bake time after you reduce oven temp may increase slightly just bake it as follows and check if the center is still jiggly in which case keep baking until it’s not. Good luck!

Looks yummy! I never tried maple sugar. Guess I have to order it soon. By the way I love your photos. And I comment it on IG but I wanted to thank you for your Baba Ganoush recipe. Sometimes my mom adds some mayonnaise and it’s even better 😉

Try baking the filling in individual custard cups (or even coffee cups if that is what you have) instead of a pie crust. I just do the “350f until done” thing because time depends on the material, size and shape of the cups. The baked custards will keep for a good week in the fridge if well wrapped. A cup of pumpkin custard makes a lovely breakfast with a big mug of spicy chai and (perhaps surprisingly to some people) a sage-and-black-pepper-heavy breakfast sausage. If you have the time, let it sit on the counter for 15-30 minutes to take the chill off it.